Still mixing up his pitches with erratic success,
Eddie Harris comes up with another LP full of abrupt changes of gear. There is electric funk, some sumptuous big-band charts (courtesy of
Richard Evans), new electronic attachments for his sax, some sorties into Jamaican reggae on "Love Is Too Much to Touch" and Brazilian samba on "Come Dance with Me," and the reliably funky guitarist
Ronald Muldrow is always at hand. The title track is another series of urban complaints, though without humor this time. Side Two is mostly a reunion of the rhythm section that made
Eddie's mid-'60s acoustic albums -- an inspired
Cedar Walton,
Ron Carter and
Billy Higgins -- and they get a chance to stretch out at length like old times on "Nothing Else to Do." Some of this music sounds a bit routine for
Harris but the range of idioms is extraordinary and it was apparently recorded in just one day. ~ Richard S. Ginell